Tuesday, December 9, 2008

In a country where intellectuals are often treated like rock stars, (Abdulkarim) Soroush has been venerated and reviled for his outspoken support of religious pluralism and democracy. Now he has taken one crucial step further. Shuttling from university to university in Europe and the U.S., Soroush is sending shock waves through Iran’s clerical establishment.The recent controversy began about eight months ago, after Soroush spoke with a Dutch reporter about one of Islam’s most sensitive issues: the divine origin of the Koran. Muslims have long believed that their holy book was transmitted word for word by God through the Prophet Muhammad.

In the interview, however, Soroush made explicit his alternative belief that the Koran was a “prophetic experience.” He told me that the prophet “was at the same time the receiver and the producer of the Koran or, if you will, the subject and the object of the revelation.” Soroush said that “when you read the Koran, you have to feel that a human being is speaking to you, i.e. the words, images, rules and regulations and the like all are coming from a human mind.” He added, “This mind, of course, is special in the sense that it is imbued with divinity and inspired by God.”

Naturally, he's been beaten and nearly killed over his beliefs, but this is the type of thinking that encourages me about Islam. And, furthermore, it provides supremely forceful ammunition to counter the anti-Islamic bigotry of all too many "Christians" in America. I love it.

And yes, I know, as an atheist I'm supposed to rant about the ultimate lack of proof about any god blah blah blah. The enemy isn't religion...it's intolerance.